PF says that investigated the Lava Jato used Panamanian bank to launder money

The FPB Bank, according to research, It works officially in Panama, but acted in Brazil without permission of the Central Bank.

Photo: reproduction

The prosecutor of Jerusha Burmann Viecili Republic said today (7) that there is an "outsourcing" and a "double layer" money laundering obtained by acts of corruption in Brazil. Operation Ghost-Hunting, 32Second phase of Operation Lava Jato, sparked on Thursday by the Federal Police (PF), investigates the performance of the Panamanian bank FPB Bank, who played in Brazil and kept a "partnership" with the Panamanian company Mossack Fonseca, responsible for opening offshore companies [public companies in tax havens] people investigated for embezzlement in Petrobras.

"The highlight of the stage today is this sophistication of the method used to conceal illicit funds in the accounts of that bank. The use of offshore [of individual operators] is already in itself placement of a mask, a shadow on money, they are companies that can keep the recipient of the money anonymously. With this new level of sophistication, with the use of an underground bank, It has this double scrubbing layer, a new mode of concealment and deception of the entitlements of the accounts ", said prosecutor.

The FPB Bank, according to research, It works officially in Panama, but acted in Brazil without permission of the Central Bank. The staff of the institution they captured customers, They performed banking services and met these people in their homes or offices in clandestine bank. "It was a complete package. The institution registered offshore, took care of the management of and account structure out there to allow the flow of money. It is not reasonable that a person seek a clandestine institution is not for the purpose at least doubtful ", said the delegate of the PF, Rodrigo Sanfurgo.

mobile encrypted
The partnership between FPB Bank and Mossack Fonseca was discovered during the 22th stage of Lava Jato, when an encrypted cell used for communication between representatives of the two companies was found. "The task force investigates a network that relies on a complex structure to provide the flow of money out of the country", disse Sanfurgo.

According to the Federal Public Ministry, They were identified 44 offshore constituted by Mossack Fonseca at the request of bank employees, but we have not yet identified all the customers of the financial institution. The investigation found that four people have been investigated in Lava Jato moved money with almost 20 offshore companies linked to Mossack, Pedro Barusco and Renato Duque, Petrobras former managers, businessman Mario Goes and Roberto Trumpet. But it does not necessarily have account PFB Bank.

But, according to police FederalF, the framework for money laundering was not exclusive to cater investigated in Lava jet, and it was available to anyone. It is not known how long the Panamanian financial institution acted in Brazil, but "representatives in Brazil have a list of some of the bank. It is not something recent ", explicou Sanfurgo.

warrants
today have been met seven forceful warrants for bank representatives who worked in Brazil, all Brazilians, second or delegate. Eleven search warrants have been met in the house of those investigated and where there is evidence that operated the bank's offices in Santos, S√£o Bernardo do Campo and S√£o Paulo.

One of the forceful targets is Edson Paulo Fanton, appearing as a representative of the Panamanian bank in Brazil. He is delegated nephew of PF Mario Renato Fanton, but, second De Paula, there is no delegate's relationship with the FPB Bank.

For the delegate PF Igor de Paula, this complex network comes on the dirty money of wealth that exists in the country. “Money needs to be washed. It is in this space that grow situations like this”, said, explaining that it is not illegal to have offshore company or funds abroad. "But Mossack had a way of acting that made it clear that customers did not want to be known and the documentation was handled in a way that could not be accessed. And this bank, acting clandestinely, It suggests that most customers move illicit origin of funds ", completed.

Paula explained that there is no way to specify the amount of money handled by the bank and that the second stage of the investigation will be to map who and why has used the services of the institution. ‚Äú[O Panama] in fact is not the easiest places to get cooperation ", said the delegate, Papers citing Panama or case.

The Panamanian Mossack Fonseca is also in the center of the global scandal, Papers called Panama, a resource concealment scheme used by hundreds of officials and celebrities from dozens of countries, revealed this year by an international consortium of journalists.

Second or delegate De Paula, the extracted resources illicitly Petrobras are "giants" and, Hair scheme not observed Panama Papers, Mossack served to all types of customer, which should be repeated in the Brazilian model. Hence the work of the FPB Bank in the context of Petrobras corruption. At this stage of Lava Jato, PF investigates crimes against the national financial system, money laundering and the formation of international criminal organization.

triple X
The 22th stage of Lava Jato, Operation Triple X, It was held on 27 January this year and had targeted apartments of the OAS construction company that, second investigation, They may have been used to bribe transfer of Petrobras corruption scheme.

According to the Federal Police, the Mossack Fonseca company is responsible for offshore Murray, which acquired a real estate condominium in Guaruja, S√£o Paulo coast, originally built by the Housing Cooperative Bank (Bancoop), presided between 2005 e 2010 by former PT treasurer Jo√£o Vaccari Neto, arrested in April last year, one of the stages of the jet wash. The project was passed on to the contractor OAS in 2009, due to a financial crisis of the cooperative.

Offshore, what does it mean “away from the coast” in English, is a term used to refer to companies or bank accounts opened outside, often in tax havens, where holders seek better conditions in relation to their country of origin, as tax exemption and tax secrecy. Opening an offshore company and maintain resources in exterioir are permitted by Brazilian law, since it declared to the IRS and the Central Bank.